Chapter 1156 - Skillful Casting

Without a weapon, Liu Wuxie relied on his bare fists. The Silverthunder Ant Beast's body was incredibly tough, impervious to ordinary weapons. Having just broken through to the third-level Heaven Profound Realm, he had no time to consolidate his cultivation before being forced back into battle.

The beast's attacks were simple yet terrifying, relying entirely on its overwhelming physique to smash through anything in its way.

Liu Wuxie's left foot remained chained, limiting his movement to a thirty-meter radius, while the beast's massive frame, over a dozen meters long with claws extending to fifteen meters, left him almost no space to maneuver.

It swept its razor-sharp claws at his feet, leaping into the air to force him back. The moment Liu Wuxie shifted, the beast's claws lashed out again, slicing within inches of his ankle.

In the stands, He Yingwu's heart pounded as he watched Liu Wuxie's increasingly desperate situation. The chain rattled at its limit. One more step back would snap him straight into the beast's waiting jaws.

Liu Wuxie knew it as well; the chain stretched only thirty meters. To survive, he had to evade before reaching that limit, but with the beast locked onto him, escape seemed impossible.

"Brat, you're still too inexperienced to fight me," Chen Gang said, sneering. Over the years, every opponent who stood against him had met a grim end—some in the mines, some in the arena, and others under the guards' fists.

A sharp, tearing pain shot up Liu Wuxie's legs, like silver needles piercing his skin.

At the last instant, half a meter before the chain reached its limits, Liu Wuxie dropped from the air and slid sideways in a blur. He reappeared beneath the Silverthunder Ant Beast's abdomen. He moved so quickly that no one could react, as he changed positions several times in the blink of an eye.

"He's courting death!" Liu An sneered, convinced Liu Wuxie had sealed his fate. To retreat risked losing a leg, and advancing meant leaping into the maws of death.

Even He Yingwu couldn't understand his choice. Had he not realized that the beast's other limbs could strike just as easily?

As if on cue, the beast's claws lashed out like twin swords, aiming to skewer him, a killing tactic it had used countless times before. Liu An's whistle had already driven the creature into a frenzy; it was fighting with nothing but primal instinct.

However, Liu Wuxie kept Ghost Eye active, tracking every movement in vivid detail, down to the subtlest shifts of the beast's bones. Though weaker than when used in the True Martial Continent, Ghost Eye still allowed him to see through its body and track its attack patterns.

He was gambling everything on one move. If he failed to slip under its abdomen, the beast would tear him apart.

The claws came in fast, and with no weapon to block them, he drew on his fists alone.

"Annihilation Fist!" He struck with full strength, smashing into one claw and forcing it aside just enough to clear a path. Sliding low, he vanished from sight, even Yu Wentai losing track of him.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

After entering the astral domain, Liu Wuxie's dao techniques were rendered ineffective due to the lack of divine force. This meant that he had to increase his cultivation to obtain more divine force.

There was, however, another option—comprehending mythical arts, which far surpassed dao techniques in power.

The beast's enormous size concealed him perfectly, exactly as planned.

"Frost Mythical Art!" Liu Wuxie hissed. His battle with the Azure Nether Crocodile in the True Martial Continent had granted him a trace of insight into a mythical art.

A bone-piercing chill burst from his palm, forming an ice blade reminiscent of the Heretic Blade.

The Silverthunder Ant Beast charged forward, seconds away from exposing him again. Striking in that fleeting moment, Liu Wuxie drove the ice blade deep into its abdomen, burying the hilt inside.

The beast shrieked in agony, lurched forward, and collapsed.

Liu Wuxie followed with a crushing punch to its abdomen, sending its massive body tumbling away. The blow erased all evidence—the ice blade melted away, leaving only a single fist mark, as if he had felled it with pure physical strength.

He knew the truth—without a mythical art, he could not have slain the creature. Since he had used one, it had to remain hidden from every eye in the arena.

Blood poured from the beast's mouth as its breathing grew faint, with its internal structure destroyed by the punch. The Frost Mythical Art's traces were gone, and even Yu Wentai was unable to detect them.

"That's impossible! This can't be!" Liu An's eyes widened in disbelief. He knew the beast's strength and could not fathom it falling to a Heaven Profound Realm opponent without resistance.

The guards were equally stunned—dozens of them were needed to capture it alive.

Chen Gang froze mid-clap, muttering, "How could this be?"

"Go check it out," Yu Wentai ordered, sensing something amiss. He had ordered Liu An to go down to investigate the beast's course of death.

"Understood." Liu An leapt into the arena, cold murder in his eyes as he passed Liu Wuxie. He crouched beside the beast, inspecting it for a long while.

The only clue was the location of its fatal wound, three inches below the abdomen, a known weak point. He couldn't tell whether Liu Wuxie had aimed for it deliberately or if it had struck him by chance.

No other signs remained; the ice blade had long since melted into the beast's flesh. Only a cultivator of a much higher realm could sense anything unusual.

Liu An straightened and shook his head at Yu Wentai.

Yu Wentai's expression darkened. He had sworn to let Liu Wuxie live if he survived three rounds, but now, two rounds had passed, and the man stood stronger than before, having reached the third-level Heaven Profound Realm.

Seated on the ground, Liu Wuxie panted heavily, blood staining his lips in a convincing show of exhaustion. In truth, it was all an act to avoid suspicion. Hidden from view, the invisible roots of the Ancestral Tree pierced the beast's body, extracting the laws of the Transcendent Realm.

He could not use the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron here, but the Ancestral Tree's concealment allowed him to harvest the beast's energy safely.

Yu Wentai waved for the guards to carry away the corpse, disappointment flickering in his eyes; he had hoped to watch the beast devour Liu Wuxie alive.

Dozens of guards rushed in to carry it away.

"This is strange. Why is it so light?" one murmured. The beast was supposed to be heavy, yet it felt unexpectedly light. Its organs remained, yet Liu Wuxie had already absorbed its beast core and the laws of the Transcendent Realm, storing them for his future breakthrough to the fourth-level Heaven Profound Realm.

His astral stones were depleted, so another breakthrough was impossible for now. He would need to acquire more before attempting another breakthrough.

Liu Wuxie stood alone in the arena, his left foot still chained.

Liu An approached the stake and tightened the restraint, cutting his movement radius down to just twenty meters to make the third round even harder.

Jeers erupted from the stands; the slaves voiced their support for Liu Wuxie and their disdain for Yu Wentai's tactics. Liu An ignored them and nodded at Yu Wentai after tightening the restraint.

Then, the deepest stone door groaned open. Dust and stone fragments rained down as it rose, releasing a musty stench that spread through the arena.

The crowd went silent.